阅读理解

YOU CAN'T DO IT EVEN IF IT HURTS NOBODY

　　Who do you think breaks the law in our society? If you believe that only tough guys commit crimes, you may have to think again．Unlike in the movies, we can't divide the world into bad guys and model citizens．Real life is much more complex．In the same way that diseases range from the common cold to fatal forms of cancer, crimes vary in degree．For example, smoking in an elevator will inconvenience people, but much less than threatening them with a gun．

　　In addition to breaking the law themselves, people tolerate various levels of crime．Why can we tolerate some crimes? It may be that, by seeing others do something, we accept it more easily．For instance, most people will find it easier to speed on a highway when everybody else is driving over the speed limit．When people celebrate a sports championship, if they see someone breaking store windows, they might start breaking windows themselves or even steal from the store．So the people around us influence how much law-breaking we can tolerate．

　　We must also wonder whether seeing violence on television or reading about it in the newspapers every day makes us tolerate crime more than we should．We become used to seeing blood on the news on television, or in full color in newspapers and magazines．Because we see thousands of dead people on TV, maybe we just try to ignore the situation behind the violence．If so many citizens tolerate violence and crime, or even commit crimes themselves, it may simply be because of the human mind．Our minds may not care about specific laws．Instead, our minds may have a system of values that usually prevents us from hurting other people to improve our own lives．Yet, when it comes to respecting the rights of a mass of anonymous(不知名的)individuals, we might not be so responsible．While most people would not steal a wallet containing ＄50，they may not mind cheating on taxes, because cheating on taxes does not hurt anyone person．It hurts society, but "society" remains an abstract(抽象的)idea that is not as real asa neighbor or a friend's friend．

　　When we realize that many people have misunderstandings of law-breaking, we could think it is surprising that so many people have a criminal record．How could we improve the level of honesty in our society? Would strict laws help make our society better? Probably not．Honesty will have to come from social pressure：in the family, at school, on the job, each and every one of us can encourage honesty by showing which behavior is unacceptable．And teaching respect should become everyone's responsibility．

阅读理解

　　Crossroads is a resource(物资)network．We take goods Hong Kong doesn’t want and give them to people who badly need them．We collect those goods and give them in the welfare(福利)places in Hong Kong, mainland China , elsewhere in Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa．So Crossroads is just that：a Crossroads between need and resource．

　　The welfare agencies(机构)we help do not run on large budgets(预算)．They ate grass．Roots group who have seen a need and tried to meet it．They can’t get the job done without back-up, though, so our job is to help them do their work．Our warehouse(仓库)is full of goods, from computers to high chairs, clothing to books, stationery(文具)to medical provision(供应品), cupboards to dining set．They send us a list of their needs and we try to match it with what we have．

　　Crossroads itself also operates on a low budget．We do not buy the goods we send．They are donated．(捐献)Similarly, rather than raising money for shipping, we ask transport companies do donate their services．Nobody in our organization recieves a salary．Even our full-time workers work on voluntary basis．

　　*Factories　　　　　*Hospitals

　　*Hotels　　　　　　*Schools

　　*Householders　　　*Transport Companies

　　*Offices　　　　　　*Other Charities

　　One resource that we are always in need of is people．While we receive large quentities of goods and there is never a short supply of requests for them, we are always in need of hands to help sort and prepare them for shipping!

　　What can I do?

　　We are always in need of people．We have a lot of different jobs．If you are volunteering regularly, we can offer work in some of the following categories(类别), some of the time．You are welcome to number your top three choices and we Will do our best to match them．

　　*Clothing categorization(分类)　　*Toy categorization

　　*Book categorizaion　　　　　　*Househould goods categorization

　　*Electrical goods categorization　　*Medical categorization

　　*Furniture handling　　　　　　　*Driving

　　*Office work　　　　　　　　　　*Money-raising

　　All volunteer work is done at our warehouse．Our warehouse hours：

　　Tues－Sat, 10am－5∶30pm

　　Postal Address：

　　16 Man Tong, Silvermine Bay, Lantau Island, Hong Kong

　　Office details：

　　Ph：984 9309, 27409657;

　　Fax：2984 7452

　　Email：106122．2524@ compuserve．com